"Lilyhammer's" second season will soon be premiering on Netflix. The company's first original series paved the way for its current success, and star Steven Van Zandt says he's proud of how much has changed for Netflix since "Lilyhammer" premiered in 2012.

"It's been an amazing journey to watch it. Two years ago, it's hard to believe it didn't exist, and now Netflix has just become this amazing powerhouse right up there with HBO," he says during a conference call while promoting "Lilyhammer" Season 2. "We're very proud to be the first. It was an amazing history-making choice ... to go with a foreign show. It made a statement that has reverberated throughout the entire world."

Though Van Zandt wouldn't speak too candidly about Season 2, he would say that the best word to describe how Frank Tagliano approaches fatherhood is "reluctantly." According to the actor, his "Lilyhammer" character is "trying."

"He's sort of into it. He's trying, and the culture forces him to be into it a little more than he would normally be. I don't want to reveal too much, but it's one of the fun new things that you'll see this year," Van Zandt teases. He adds, "He's basically becoming a bit more comfortable, and that leads to a whole other sort of angle when we bring in these additional foreign elements."

Van Zandt found himself in the same out-of-his-element situation in "Lilyhammer" Season 1 as Frank did when he found himself transplanted to Norway. But Van Zandt embraces the fact that Norwegian culture is something everyone can work from, and says he approached the show from the angle that making it more Norwegian ultimately made it more international.

"It's great to go back now with a second season that I think will be quite impressive for people who I think tuned into the first season out of curiosity," he says. "We caught everybody by surprise. ... But now we're going to actually deliver on the promise of that first season."

Van Zandt adds, "We're going to be a show that can be compared to anybody else on American television."

"Lilyhammer" Season 2 premieres on Netflix on Dec. 13 at 12:01 a.m. PT.